What we covered here
• Shutdown standoff: It’s the fifth day of the government shutdown and there’s little sign of progress as federal employees across the country and other Americans begin to feel the effects.
• White House digs in: President Donald Trump has embraced the political battle. He told CNN this weekend that Republicans are “winning” and expressed confidence in a positive outcome, though quiet concerns have emerged in his orbit about political damage from the shutdown.
• How we got here: Democrats are pressuring Republicans to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies as part of any stopgap funding bill, while the GOP says the issue should wait until the end of the year. Trump has threatened waves of retaliatory layoffs in addition to the federal workers already furloughed.
• Is the shutdown affecting you? Tell us about it.
Our live coverage of the government shutdown has ended for the day. Read more here or in the posts below.
Unions ask federal court to stop Trump administration from conducting mass firings
Two unions representing federal employees have asked a California federal court to stop the Trump administration from conducting sweeping layoffs that could permanently eliminate jobs deemed “not consistent” with President Donald Trump’s priorities.
The American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees argued in a Saturday filing that a temporary restraining order was necessary to prevent “significant harm.”
AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a release Saturday that the Trump administration’s “threats to potentially fire tens of thousands of federal employees” because of the shutdown “is not only illegal — it’s just plain wrong.”
“Mass illegal firings will not only harm federal workers and their families, but will devastate vital services that the American people depend on,” he said.
Some context: The White House budget office told federal agencies last month to prepare plans for mass firings in the event of a government shutdown.
AFGE, the largest federal workers union, and AFSCME filed a lawsuit against the administration last week to block it from laying off employees during the shutdown.
Trump tells Navy sailors not to worry about pay during the government shutdown
President Donald Trump told service members who may be concerned about their pay during the ongoing government shutdown not to “worry about it.”
“We will get our service members every last penny. Don’t worry about it,” Trump said to applause and cheers from the crowd while addressing the attendees of a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States Navy in Norfolk, Virginia.
“It’s all coming. It’s coming, and even more because I’m supporting the across-the-board pay raises for every sailor and service member in the United States Armed Forces,” he added to more applause before likening Democrats to a “gnat” above his and the Republican Party’s shoulders.
“They want to give all of our money to illegal aliens that pour into the country,” Trump said. “And, you know, I have a bigger heart than they do, but the problem is, when you do that, they come in by the millions.”
"We're at a stalemate": Top congressional leaders hurl accusations as shutdown enters second week
Top congressional leaders from both parties dug in today on their opposing demands in the government shutdown, signaling that the standoff will likely drag on when the Senate returns this week.
The Senate so far has taken four failed votes to advance a bill that would keep the government open through November 21.
Here’s what congressional leaders are saying:
Senate Majority Leader John Thune: “We’re at a stalemate,” the South Dakota Republican conceded on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” calling Democrats’ desires to reverse Medicaid cuts implemented in President Donald Trump’s policy package a “nonstarter.”
“It’s not serious, it’s not reasonable, it’s not realistic,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told CBS News that while he has “encouraged” his members to talk to Republicans, he implied that those informal side conversations haven’t been fruitful and that it’s up to leadership to find a way out of the shutdown.
“The Republicans offered nothing,” the New York Democrat said, adding, “the only way this will ultimately be solved is if five people sit together in a room and solve it.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson blamed congressional Democrats, telling NBC, “The reason the government is closed is because Chuck Schumer and 43 of his Democrat colleagues in the Senate have decided now to vote multiple times to keep the government closed.”
“The House did our work,” the Louisiana Republican added.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told NBC that the last time he spoke with Republican leadership about government funding was in a White House meeting last week the day before the deadline, and “unfortunately, since that point in time, Republicans, including Donald Trump, have gone radio silent.”
Asked whether he still feels like it’s possible to negotiate with Trump, Jeffries called the president’s sharing of a racist, AI-generated video of him in a sombrero just hours after that critical meeting “outrageous” and “unhinged,” adding, “it speaks for itself.”
Meanwhile: Trump says “we’re going to straighten” out Chicago after authorization of the National Guard
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that “we’re going to straighten” out Chicago following his authorization of the National Guard in the city.
Trump said he believes politicians in Chicago are “under threat” in the city.
“I believe the politicians are under threat, because there’s no way somebody can say that things are wonderful in Chicago,” Trump said while departing the White House on Sunday.
Portland, Oregon, is the other city pushing back against Trump’s attempts to deploy the National Guard. On Saturday a federal judge blocked Trump’s plans to deploy federal troops to the city.
“Portland is burning to the ground. You have agitators, insurrectionists. All you have to do is look at that,” Trump claimed.
Tense weekend: Tensions spiked in Chicago yesterday after US Customs and Border Protection agents fired “defensive shots” at a woman who the Department of Homeland Security said rammed her car into a federal law enforcement vehicle. DHS said the woman is in FBI custody. She and another person are now facing federal criminal charges in connection with the incident.
Earlier this morning, Pritzker accused Trump’s administration of inciting people on the ground to react — after having tear gas and pellets fired at them.
“He’s saying that, you know, Chicago is a war zone. None of that is true. They’re just making this up,” the governor said.
On Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said today that the governors of Illinois and Oregon should spend time with ICE officers who have been deployed to the cities as part of Trump’s immigration and crime crackdown.
“Spend some time with our ICE officers and with our Border Patrol officers and encounter the protesters that they do because these individuals are shouting hateful things at them, threatening their families, putting their hands on them, and acts of violence are occurring on a regular basis,” Noem told Fox News.
We’re in day 5 of a government shutdown. Here are the latest headlines coming out of Washington
Lawmakers have said there is still no deal on the table five days into the government shutdown, while President Donald Trump prepares for potential federal layoffs.
Meanwhile, Trump is traveling to Norfolk, Virginia, where he’ll deliver remarks at Naval Station Norfolk for the US Navy’s 250th birthday later this afternoon.
Catch up on the latest headlines:
GOP are “winning” the shutdown: Trump expressed confidence the shutdown will end on a positive note, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper his administration and the Republican Party are “winning” while working to reduce federal spending. The president also blamed congressional Democrats for any potential firings of federal workers by his administration during a prolonged shutdown. “I call them Democrat layoffs,” he said.
Democratic lawmaker says there’s still no deal: Lawmakers are not yet close to a deal to reopen the government, Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona told CNN. Meanwhile, California Sen. Adam Schiff ripped Trump for playing golf, and House Speaker Mike Johnson for extending his chamber’s recess.
White House on potential federal layoffs: Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, said today federal workers could be laid off if a deal to avert a shutdown isn’t reached soon. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told Fox News that, if prolonged, military service members could struggle without pay.
Poll shows voters are placing more blame on Republicans: A CBS News/YouGov poll found 39% of Americans blame President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress most for the shutdown, with 30% saying they blame congressional Democrats and 31% both sides equally.
Trump blames Democrats for potential federal layoffs his admin is preparing, says ACA subsidies must be “fixed”
President Donald Trump blamed congressional Democrats on Sunday for any potential firings of federal workers by his administration during a prolonged government shutdown.
“I call them Democrat layoffs. They’re Democrat layoffs. They’re causing it,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House on Sunday morning.
Most Democratic senators have repeatedly declined to vote for a short-term bill to fund the government through November 21, resulting in an ongoing shutdown. They are doing so to force Republicans to the negotiating table on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act tax subsidies due to expire at the end of this year.
Trump touted a “record-setting economy,” adding, “we’re doing better than the country has ever done and the Democrats hate seeing that. It’s up to them. Anybody laid off. That’s because of the Democrats.”
CNN reported that Trump’s Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, the architect of plans to drastically slash the federal government, warned House Republicans on Wednesday of imminent layoffs at federal agencies that don’t fit the administration’s priorities.
Asked if he’s open to extending enhanced ACA subsidies, a redline for Democrats, Trump responded, “we want to fix it, so it works. It’s not working.”
Though GOP congressional leadership have made clear they are open to reaching a compromise with Democrats over extending the ACA subsidies, which they also argue must be eventually changed, they have signaled they will not negotiate until the government is reopened.
Sec. Hegseth blames Democrats for shutdown, worried about military paychecks
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth blamed Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown, telling Fox News that, if prolonged, military service members could struggle without pay.
“We’re going to continue training, but eventually you stop paying people, you stop doing things, you stop training. You’re less ready. You’re less capable of being mission ready. You can’t maintain everything,” Hegseth said on Sunday.
He said service members will start to look at leaders in Congress to blame if they start to miss out on paychecks.
“It’s not about the money, but at the end of the day, you got to pay the bills. And so, when dumb games are played by Democrats on Capitol Hill, they don’t have the power, they don’t have the control…It’s nonsense,” said Hegseth.
There will be layoffs if Trump decides negotiations don’t go anywhere, top White House economic adviser says
Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, said Sunday that federal workers could be laid off if a deal to avert a shutdown isn’t reached soon.
He continued, “But I think everyone is still hopeful that when we get a fresh start at the beginning of the week that we can get the Democrats to see that it’s just common sense to avoid layoffs like that, to avoid the $15 billion a week that the Council of Economic Advisers says will harm GDP if we have a shutdown.”
Hassett added that President Donald Trump and White House Budget Director Russ Vought “are lining things up and getting ready to act if they have to, but hoping that they don’t.”
Vought reportedly told House Republicans in a conference call Wednesday that mass layoffs would go into effect within the next two days and that layoffs would target agencies that don’t fit into the Trump administration’s priorities.
Hassett last week appeared on Politico’s Dasha Burns’ episode of “The Conversation,” where he said that every week of the shutdown costs 0.1% of GDP.
Schiff slams Trump for golfing amid shutdown: “We need a president who can act like an adult”
Sen. Adam Schiff ripped President Donald Trump for playing golf, and House Speaker Mike Johnson for extending his chamber’s recess, as the government is shut down.
“We need a president who can act like an adult, who can come to the table and negotiate an end to their self-imposed health care crisis. Right now, we don’t see that,” Schiff told NBC’s “Meet the Press” today.
“We see Trump out on the golf course, we see the Speaker telling his House colleagues not to even come to session, that there’s no work for the federal government to do, apparently,” the California Democrat added. “That’s completely unacceptable.”
Trump traveled to his golf course in Sterling yesterday.
Schiff during the interview also criticized Trump and Republicans for threatening new rounds of fast-tracked mass layoffs as part of the shutdown.
“He will do that because he wants to do that because he and (Office of Budget and Management Director) Russell Vought want to cause even more pain for the American people,” Schiff said. “That is unprecedented. No other president during shutdown has sought to maximize the harms to people, but that’s where this president is coming from.”
Lawmakers not closer to a deal that would reopen government, Democratic senator says
Lawmakers are not yet close to a deal to reopen the government, Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona told CNN’s “State of the Union” today.
Gallego has been engaged in informal bipartisan talks on the sidelines of continual failed votes to fund the government. He made clear Democrats are holding firm in their healthcare demands and want to see meaningful action by Republicans by November.
Asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper if the conversations between sparse groups of senators had amounted to any real progress yet, Gallego responded, “No,” adding, “we’re still going to continue talking.”
“Look, we know that our Senate Republicans also want to get to a deal,” he said, adding that GOP lawmakers understand what’s at stake if millions of Americans are notified early next month that their health insurance premiums will rise if Congress does not extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The Arizona Democrat said he needs to see that Republicans are “urgently moving” toward a solution to extend those subsidies before November 1 and accused House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump of being absent from talks for the time being.
He said Johnson is keeping the House out of session to avoid a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Gallego implied he has no interest in caving on Democrats’ demands in the interest of reopening the government.
“I can’t speak for everybody else, but I’m going to make sure that no matter what happens, at the end of this day, 24 million Americans do not see their insurance rates doubled, because that’s what’s going to happen,” he said.
Meanwhile: Trump heads to Virginia to give remarks at an event honoring the Navy's 250th birthday
As the government shutdown drags on, Trump says he is departing for his planned trip to Norfolk, Virginia, where he’ll deliver remarks at Naval Station Norfolk for the US Navy’s 250th birthday. He will be joined by first lady Melania Trump.
“It will be a big day with the Navy. Leaving now. The United States has the greatest military, by far, in the World. This will be a show of Naval aptitude and strength. ENJOY WATCHING! It will be broadcast everywhere. President DJT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president is scheduled to speak the event at 3:30pm.
Poll: GOP shoulders more blame, but voters aren't convinced by either party's arguments in shutdown
Let’s turn to some polling now to give us a feel for the latest public reaction to the government shutdown, which has entered a fifth day.
A CBS News/YouGov poll finds 39% of Americans blame President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress most for the shutdown, with 30% saying they blame congressional Democrats and 31% both sides equally.
The poll finds a plurality saying each side’s positions are not worth a shutdown (40% say Democrats’ positions are not worth it, while 45% say the same about GOP positions). And about half say they are deeply concerned about the shutdown’s effect on the economy.
Partisans largely place the blame on the other side when asked who carries responsibility, with Democratic voters pointing to elected Republicans and vice-versa.
Democrats are more likely to see their side’s positions as worth the shutdown, though, with 48% saying the party’s positions are worth it. Only 39% of Republican voters say the same thing about their party.
The poll finds more disapproval than approval of how all involved parties are handling the shutdown:
• 52% disapprove of the way Trump is handling it, while 32% approve
• 52% disapprove of Republicans in Congress, while 28% approve
• 49% disapprove of Democrats in Congress, while 27% approve
Trump tells CNN that Republicans are "winning" as shutdown drags on
President Donald Trump expressed confidence that the ongoing government shutdown will end on a positive note, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that his administration and the Republican Party are “winning” while working to reduce federal spending.
“Good. We are winning, and cutting costs, big time!” Trump told Tapper when asked via text message yesterday how he thinks the government shutdown will end.
Some context: Despite the president’s optimism, lawmakers left Washington for the weekend with no apparent progress toward a funding agreement to reopen the government.
Efforts to pass competing Republican and Democratic funding proposals failed again in the Senate on Friday, with both parties locked in a stalemate over enhanced Obamacare subsidies.
Trump will speak at a Navy event today in Virginia. Here's the latest from the White House
President Donald Trump is expected to address service members and top military brass at the US Navy’s 250th birthday celebration later today in Norfolk, Virginia.
The appearance comes as the federal government shutdown drags on, with Trump so far digging in his heels and blaming Democrats for the lack of a funding bill.
It’s been a busy week elsewhere for the White House, too. Here’s a quick roundup:
• Middle East ceasefire effort: Trump is keeping pressure on both Israel and Hamas to move forward with his proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. Delegations from Hamas, Israel and the US are headed to Egypt to try and finalize a deal. Follow live updates here.
• Troop deployments in US cities: The ongoing battle between the Trump administration and Democrat-led cities intensified this weekend, with a federal judge in Oregon hitting pause on the president’s plan to deploy federal troops in Portland, and the White House announcing authorization for hundreds of National Guard members to be sent to Chicago.
• Trade war bailout: American farmers are having a tough year, in no small part because of President Donald Trump’s trade war. Now, the White House is gearing up to extend them a multi-billion-dollar bailout, sources tell CNN.
The government shutdown is dragging on with no end in sight. Catch up here
Welcome to our live coverage of the federal government shutdown, which has entered a fifth day.
We’ll bring you updates on the stalemate between Democrats and Republicans in Congress as lawmakers make the rounds on Sunday morning political talk shows. We’re also tracking the impacts we’re seeing across the country for average Americans.
If you tuned out for the past couple days, here’s the lay of the land:
• How we got here: Democrats are pressuring Republicans to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies as part of any stopgap bill to fund the government, while the GOP says the issue can wait until the end of the year. Failure to extend the subsidies could spike premiums by 75% on average, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.
• We’re still seeing a lot of finger-pointing: Democratic senators say they’re ready for “real negotiation” on health care policy and a bill to fund the government, accusing Republicans of following President Donald Trump’s lead and trolling Democrats rather than working on a compromise. The GOP is accusing Democrats of using the shutdown for political gain. Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told Fox News yesterday that the House GOP has done its job by passing a stopgap funding bill, laying the blame on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
• But the impacts go well beyond political spats: Federal employees, a significant majority of whom work outside the Washington, DC, area, face uncertainty about their next paycheck. Food banks are preparing for increased demand from furloughed workers. Americans who wanted to spend the weekend at national parks and museums are making new plans.
• Faint signs of concern in Trump’s orbit: Trump has embraced the political battle, but quiet concerns are building among his allies that the politics of the shutdown may prove more complicated than they initially hoped. In early polling, Americans are just as likely to fault Trump as they are congressional Democrats.
Federal employees are spread across the country. Here's where they work
We’ve often mentioned in our shutdown coverage that the furloughs of federal workers impact communities far beyond Washington, DC.
Here’s another look at that data, this time sorted by House districts:
